The superintendent of schools in Lexington, Mass., said it all started when two first-grade boys argued over who should sit where in the cafeteria.

One of them punched the other several times on the playground while at least five children stood by and watched, the superintendent said.

But according to a Massachusetts group that opposes gay rights, a band of first-graders singled out 7-year-old Jacob Parker for a schoolyard beating in retaliation for his fathers campaign to stop Estabrook Elementary School from including information about same-sex parents in its curriculum.

The May 17 incident was triggered by a climate of anti-conservative hate created by those who support gay marriage and the teaching of homosexuality in the schools, the group Mass Resistance said.

He was taken around the corner of the school building out of sight of the patrolling aides, with the taunting and encouragement of other kids, Mass Resistance said in a statement on its website. Jacob was then positioned against the wall for what appeared to be a well-planned and coordinated assault.

Mass Resistance insisted in its statement that it was not a coincidence that the May 17 incident took place on the anniversary of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

Lexington school superintendent Paul B. Ash disputed the Mass Resistance account, saying a thorough investigation conducted by the schools principal showed the incident stemmed from a squabble over cafeteria seating that continued during an outdoor recess period.

These were two first-graders having a child squabble on a playground, Ash told the Boston Globe. Some adults are exploiting these children for political purposes.

Meg Soens, co-chair of Lexington Cares, a group that supports teaching children about family diversity, including households headed by same-sex parents, said David Parker, Jacobs father, appeared to be using the playground incident as a publicity stunt to promote a lawsuit he filed against the school system.

Last year, David Parker sued the Lexington school district to contest its refusal to allow him to remove his son from class whenever the subject of homosexuality or same-sex parents is discussed. Parker charged that the school district is required under state law to put in place an opt out policy for subjects related to human sexuality.

School officials dispute this claim. They have said allowing parents to remove their kids from class during discussion of alternative family arrangements would stigmatize kids with same-sex parents.

In a widely publicized dispute with school officials, Parker refused to leave Estabrook Elementary School last year following a meeting with officials over his opt-out proposal. Police arrested him for trespassing at school closing time when he said he would remain inside the building until the school agreed to his demands over the curriculum dispute.

Where are the candlelight vigils?

Mass Resistance President Brian Camenker has said the children at the school were aware of David Parkers views and his arrest, and this created a hostile atmosphere in the liberal-leaning Lexington community that played a role in the assault of Jacob Parker.

Mass Resistances account, which it said came largely from David Parker, was quickly picked up by the websites of national anti-gay groups, including the Traditional Values Coalition, the American Family Association, and Concerned Women for America.

In an e-mail alert sent to its members, Traditional Values Coalition head Lou Sheldon denounced gay activists and liberal journalists for not reacting with outrage over what he called a hate-motivated crime.

Where are the candlelight vigils on behalf of his son? asked Sheldon, who called on supporters to send money to help David Parker finance his lawsuit.

Ash said in a June 16 statement that the Estabrook principal conducted an investigation into the assault of Jacob Parker that included interviews with more than a dozen students and an adult school aide who stepped in to break up the altercation.

He said the investigation found that several first-grade students became involved in a disagreement over who would sit next to whom in the cafeteria. The dispute spilled outside into the schoolyard, where one student took Jacob by the hand and brought him to another student in an area that is somewhat difficult for the adults to see, Ash said.

The second student hit Jacob two to four times in the chest or abdomen, Ash said. The superintendent said at least five other students stood nearby watching but did not participate in the assault.

The child who was hit said he was not hurt and did not want to go to the nurse, Ash said in his statement. He reported that his feelings were hurt because the child who hit him was his friend.

Play date follows fight

According to Ash, the assailant was sent to the assistant principals office, where he acknowledged that what he did was wrong. The boy then filled out a think sheet to reflect on his behavior and wrote an apology to Jacob, Ash said.

Following the incident, the boys were observed arm-in-arm at school and subsequently the child who was hit went to the house of the child who hit him for a play date, Ash said.

He said the teacher of the two kids notified both sets of parents about the incident on the day it occurred and explained the steps school officials had taken to address the matter.

The teacher indicated that both parents took the matter seriously and seemed satisfied with the outcome, Ash said.

He said the matter appeared settled until Mass Resistance issued a news release nearly a month later calling the incident a hate crime.

Ash said the school investigation could find no evidence to support the charges by Mass Resistance that the incident was fueled and incited by adults hostile to David Parker. But he said he called on the Lexington Police Department, the county district attorneys office and Department of Social Services to conduct their own, independent probe of the incident.

On June 19, Ash said officials with the police department and the other two agencies declined to open investigations into the case, saying Jacobs parents did not file a complaint and they believed the school investigation was sufficient.

The school committee and the superintendent have both concluded that the allegation of adult involvement and/or incitement of this minor playground incident is entirely without merit, Ash said in a June 19 statement.

David Parker could not be reached for comment. He told the Boston Globe he remained convinced that the incident was related to his dispute with school officials, saying other students have talked to his son about the dispute. He and his wife chose not to file a police report because they didnt want to subject the children to stress, he said.

Gay rights activist Wayne Besen, who founded the group Truth Wins Out this month to counter the efforts of ex-gay groups, said the conservative organizations have engaged in a massive deception campaign to portray the Estabrook Elementary School incident as a hate crime instigated by gays against a child.

It is a fabrication so fictitious it could have been written by Stephen King, Besen said. Virtually nothing is true and the distortions are a deliberate attempt to smear a school district, intimidate administrators and influence a curriculum that has the temerity to suggest that gay families exist and should be treated with respect.

Why do liberals insist on robbing children of their childhoods? I am not sure that first graders can be capable of understanding all the arguments. They are just parroting what their parents are teaching them. This is a sad commentary on this very affluent community. I shudder to think what these first graders will be like as adults.

I just don't remember my school curriculim including readin', rump-ridin', and 'rithmetic. Why, we didn't even have masurbation seminars in high school. Some things are best left to street learnin' I s'pose.

"The school committee and the superintendent have both concluded that the allegation of adult involvement and/or incitement of this minor playground incident is entirely without merit, Ash said in a June 19 statement."

The children --and their battery-- carried out the wishes of the school department and the gays who control all schools in Massachusetts, dictator-in-robes Margaret Marshall and the New York Times.

Last year, David Parker sued the Lexington school district to contest its refusal to allow him to remove his son from class whenever the subject of homosexuality or same-sex parents is discussed. Parker charged that the school district is required under state law to put in place an opt out policy for subjects related to human sexuality.

School officials dispute this claim. They have said allowing parents to remove their kids from class during discussion of alternative family arrangements would stigmatize kids with same-sex parents.

It is a fabrication so fictitious it could have been written by Stephen King, Besen said. Virtually nothing is true and the distortions are a deliberate attempt to smear a school district, intimidate administrators and influence a curriculum that has the temerity to suggest that gay families exist and should be treated with respect.

This examples the taxpayer subsidized homosexual propaganda campaign that David Parker opposes and is up against -what his federal lawsuit filed on April 27, 2006 against the school and the administrators is all about

1. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 5 2201, to declare and rule that there exists a justiciable controversy between the plaintiffs and the defendants;

2. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 5 2201, to issue a declaratory judgment declaring that each defendant has violated each of the plaintiffs' constitutional rights of due process as set forth above;

3. Order equitable and injunctive relief ordering that:

A. The plaintiff parents be expressly and clearly notified prior to any adult-directed or initiated classroom discussions of sexuality, gender identity, and marriage constructs, until such time as the children are in seventh grade. Such notification must be explicit about the content, given in a timely manner, and involve the written consent of parents to opt children into these presentations/discussions.

B. The plaintiff parents be presented with an opportunity to excuse the children from classroom presentations or discussions the intent of which is to have children accept the validity of, embrace, affirm, or celebrate views of human sexuality, gender identity, and marriage constructs.

C. The plaintiff parents be presented with an opportunity to excuse the children from classroom presentations or discussions when the intent is to have children accept the validity of, embrace, affirm or celebrate belief systems or religious perspectives.

D. The plaintiff parents be presented with an opportunity to attend, as silent observers, and record any school presentations or discussions of the aforementioned ideological/socialization perspectives.

E. That no materials graphically depicting homosexual physical contact be submitted to the students until the seventh grade, with the provisions of Sections 3A and 3C.

4. Order payment of compensatory damages to the extent allowed by law;

5. Order payment of special, exemplary, or punitive damages, to the fullest extent allowed by law;

But according to a Massachusetts group that opposes gay rights, a band of first-graders singled out 7-year-old Jacob Parker for a schoolyard beating in retaliation for his fathers campaign to stop Estabrook Elementary School from including information about same-sex parents in its curriculum.

Gee, no bias or distortion of truth here! /sarc

Since when did the father campaign to stop the school from promoting their pro-homosexual curriculum? I believe he just asked to be notified and have his child excluded from such "education" - which they refused to do, since they believe they should have free reign to indoctrinate our children.

They really love evil, don't they?

16
posted on 06/30/2006 11:13:26 AM PDT
by Zechariah_8_13
(Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.)

You can bet your sweet...no, wait a minute, not that. Well, in any case, if this involved the opposite situation, i.e, the kid's parents had been demanding gay studies be included in the curriculum, the MSM would be broadcasting this far and wide as a "hate" crime; the school authorities would be in a dither, apologizing all over the landscape; and the kids involved would be appropriately disclipined and be required to take "tolerance" training of some kind.

I think it was two first graders having a fight and this Mass Resistance is full of it. They are behaving like liberals - they see a situation that they can try to warp into making themselves look like a victim. I don't buy it.

It's amazing how many people will perpetute this lie because it fits into an agenda. The story perpetrated by Mass Resistance is simply untrue. None of it is true and it's a shame a seven year old boy is nothing but a pawn in this fight. The lawsuit is fair and reasonable, and even if he loses it, which is likely, that is the right way of dealing with Parker's concerns over what is being taught in school. The lie about the beating is not fair or reasonable. Give it up and stick to the lawsuit.

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